Discussion Questions for The Devil in Silver:
1. Pepper arrives at New Hyde Hospital in handcuffs, led inside by three cops. What are your first impressions of Pepper because of this? What assumptions do you make about him? How long does it take for those initial impressions to change?
2. New Hyde's psychiatric unit, Northwest, is located in a public hospital in Queens. In what ways does the author overturn or undermine your ideas of what a psychiatric unit will look like and how it will be run? In what ways does he confirm your ideas?
3. During his intake meeting Pepper learns that he'll be held for observation for seventy-two hours. He reacts badly to this. How do you imagine you might react upon learning that you were trapped within this system? What might you do differently? Do you think it would help?
4. Dorry explains that she makes a point of greeting all newly admitted patients when they arrive at New Hyde. Why does Dorry do this? How would you imagine you would react to meeting Dorry when you first arrived? Why do you think Pepper and Dorry bond in the way they soon do?
5. Though Pepper protests that he isn't mentally ill he's still forced to take medication which has a severe effect on him. How did the introduction of the medications affect Pepper's behavior? Does our society seem too quick to prescribe pharmaceutical drugs these days? What affect might they be having on all of us?
6. Within days Pepper has met most of the other patients. Coffee, his roommate, seems particularly scared of something on the unit. What did you think of Coffee's fears before Pepper was attacked and then afterward? What did you think of Coffee's mission to reach someone, anyone, in the outside world who could help? Was he foolish or hopeful?
7. Do the members of the staff-Dr. Anand, Miss Chris, Scotch Tape, Josephine, and the other nurses and orderlies-seem to be trying to harm the patients? Is the mistreatment of the patients intentional? If not, how might the staff be seen as "suffering" inside of New Hyde, too?
8. How did your understanding of the "Devil in Silver" change as the novel progressed? By the end of the novel did you have any sympathy for "the Devil?"
9. Pepper and Sue enjoy a brief but intense love affair while inside New Hyde. How does Pepper's time with Sue change his character? Did he help Sue, in the end?
10. Why is Vincent Van Gogh referenced so often in this book? How did Van Gogh's story come to seem important to Pepper? Why was it relevant to the novel as a whole?
11. Whose death affected you most in this novel? Why?
12. Does Pepper ever get out of New Hyde Hospital? Where do you imagine Loochie is now?